Timing and regulating device for chimes



Jan. 22 1924. 1,481,315

w. EBERHARDT v TIMING AND REGULATING DEVICE FOR CRIMES Filed June 25, 1920 Wu h a f H v I I 1} r H I n h n r] n n n n n A. JL- J J L J5] A l 4 f Z2 d Patented den. 22, 1924.

ii iii r HALTER EBERHARDT, 0F CINCINNATI, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE HERSCI-IEDE HALL CLOCK COMPANY, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO,-A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

TIMING AND REGULATING DEVICE FOR CHIMES.

Application filed June 23, 1920' Serial No. 391,208.

of studs which project from a roll termed a stud roll. These stud rolls with these ro'ectin )ins are customaril madeb a.

casting process. lVhen the stud roll is placed in a clock it is customary to vary the positions of the studs somewhat, to obtain the proper timing of the notes of th chime, by bending the studs.

My invention is of a devicethat is to be temporarily attached to a clock having aseries of chimes, for the purpose of regulatin and timing the sounding of the chimes. Many clocks having chimes are adapted to have any one of a number of various combinations of individual bells or: notes sounded to announce elapse of certain periods of" time. For example, as shown in this application, some clocks are adapted to have Canterbury chimes, comprising-1 combinations of four distinct and individual bells or notes. Westminster chimes, comprising combinations of six distinct and individual bells or notes, or lVittington chimes, comprising combinations of eight distinctand individual bells or notes sounded at each quarter of the hour.

An object of my invention is topro'vide a mechanical device to determine the ac.- curacy as to the time when the bells are sounded so that proper regulation and tim: ing adjustment of such sounding may be made bybe-nding the studs scribed.

Another object'is to eliminate the personal element to the extent that unskilled operators can accurately adjust the sounding; mechanism.

Another object is to provide a device for the stated purpose that can be readily movedin and out of engagement with the chiming mechanism.

These and other objects are attained by the means described herein and disclosed in the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a device eretofore 7 deembodying my invention in engagement wlth'a ChlIl'lG'OI stud roll.

Figs-2 is a side elevation of' the device shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged plan viewof an indicator hand forming a detail of my invention.

Fig. 4 is a perspective-view of a cross bar forminga detail of my invention.

My invention" comprises aframe A in which a drum A is revolved by a train of gears B that are actuated by the chime strikiiig mechanism L, when the train of s gears is moved into engagement with the' gear (Z on the pin-or stud roll D. The drum is-so graduated that as it is revolved, the graduations thereon should register with the fingers or indicators f when the individual bells or notes are sounded. If the' bells are not sounded when the finger f registers with the proper graduation, the operator adjusts the pin (F, by means of the key K, until such result is attained.

The cylindrical drum A is mounted upon the shaft a supported by the sides'a' and a of'the frame A and has secured'to it the gear of. The frame A is'supported upon the uprights or legs a and a The frame" A is adapted to be moved into'engagement with-the plate C secured to brackets d and (Band extending across the clock immediately below the'roll D, and to be'secured thereto by means of the lugs a a, a and a formed on the frame. The lugs a and a are formed at the upper rear edges of the sides a and a so that the lugs on any one side will straddle the'upper edge of the plate C. The lugs a areformed at the lower rear edge of the sides a and a and abut againstthe plate C. The lug a extends from the middle and rear of the side a and is so shaped that it will extend around the side edge 0 of the plate C to the inner side 0 of plate C. A= thumb screw (r is threaded thru lug a and' is used to seat the lugs 11 and 0 upon the front 0 of the plate C. A slotted and perforated cross ba'rc join the tops of the sides of theqframe. The frame A is necessarily modified in construction to make a device of this type attachableto clocks produced by different manufacturers. The drum A may be of any desired width or circumference, the greaterthe accuracy with which the regulation maybe made. The outer surface of the drum is divided into a series of circumferentially extending graduated sections (r 0, and a The number of graduated sections is determined by the number of chime combinations in any one clock to be regulated. Basic graduations (Z15 extend across all the sections in substantial parallelism with the axis or shaft a and subdividing each of the sections a, a and (Z14 into five equal parts. Each of these five parts of each of the sections is in turn subdivided into as many parts as there are individual bells or notes in any one chime, for example, an would be subdivided into eight parts, a would be subdivided into four parts, and section a would be subdivided into six parts, corresponding to the Vi ittington, Canterbury and Westminster chimes respectively. The subdivisions are of such proportion that one of the basic or lesser graduating lines a and ar, respectively will register with the indicator atthe time when a certain individual bell is to be struck. These basic and lesser lines are numbered to correspond with the bell that is to be struck, such graduations and numbers being varied in accordance with the desired sequence and periods between the sounding of the bells.

The train of gears B comprises the gears b, b and 6 Gears Z) and b have their axes fixed, mesh with one another, and are rotatably mounted upon side (6 of the frame A. The gear I) engages the gear a secured to drum A. The gear 5 is revolubly mounted upon the adjustable arm 5 mounted upon the side a? of the frame and engages the gear 6 The gear 6 is adapted to be moved into engagement with the gear d on the studded roll D, thereby transmitting the rotatory motion of such roll thru the train of gears B to the drum A. The arm 7) is slotted, the thumb screw 6 being adapted to pass thru such slot 6 and to engage in a threaded way in the side of the "l ra me, thereby securing the arm between the thumb screw and the frame. The gears hear such relation that the drum and roll D complete one revolution simultaneously.

The indicator hand F is mounted in the slot at in the cross bar a, and has a central elongated slot 7 thru which the thumb screw 7 is adapted to extend. The shank of the thumb screw engages in a threaded perforation in the cross bar, whereby the indicator hand is secured upon such cross bar; The pointers or indicator fingers f extend from the hand F, and are adapted to register with the graduations upon the drum A, there being a finger for each of the graduated sections a, a and a. All the fingers register simultaneously with the basic'graduations a.

The stud roll D is ordinarily cast with the pins or studs d upon it, in apprmaimately nism L, consisting of an ordinary clock spring Z and the intermediate gears Z and Z engages this roll and revolves it. The gear b is adapted to engage this elongated gear d. The roll and gear are fixedly mounted upon the axial shatt 6Z4 extending thru the brackets al and (Z which form end housings for the roll and are attached to the plate C. The roll D is ordinarily manually reciprocated longitudinally whereby any one of the series of pins that are employed to sound the bells of any one chime is moved into alignment with the lovers that control the sounding hammers not shown, so that when the roll is rotated, the pins will actuate such levers and hammers. When the lovers are not actuated at proper intervals of time the pins 03 are bent by means of the key K so that the levers will be properly actuated. Heretofore this regulation has been acconr plished by experts who have judged the accuracy of such time intervals.

The operation of my device is as follows:

The device embodying my invention is attached to the plate C by means of the lugs a, a", a and a, and thumb screw (5 The roll D is actuated by the usual clock mechanism L. By observing the number and order in Which the bells are struck the op erator can determine which of the live basic lines should next register with the indicator fingers. The drum A is then revolved until Such basic line is adjacent to the indicator fingers. The gear 6 is moved into engagement with the gears (Z and 6 The roll D and drum are turned by the clock mechanism and when the first bell of any chime is struck the indicator hand is adjusted upon the cross bar (12 so that the lingers register with the said basic line. The bells of any one chime are then sounded. \Vheuever the graduating lines on the section corresponding with the chime that is being adjusterh fail to register with the indicator finger extending over such section when a bell is sounded, the operator bends the pin (Z that actuates the lever instrumental in sounding such bell until the proper graduation registers with the indicator finger simultaneously with the sounding of the bell. The key K is used to adjust the pins. l Vhen one series of chimes has been adjusted. the roll D is manually moved longitudinally to align a second combination of pins with the levers adapted to operate the bells in such chime. The first bell of such second chime should be sounded simultaneously with the registration of the basic graduation with the indicator finger extending over such second section without adjustment ofthe indicator hand. IVhen the bells of this second chime have been adjusted, the roll is again manually moved to cause the next or third set of pins to align with the levers E and such pins are adjusted. The device can be modified to such extent as to accommodate any number of chimes. When final adjustments have been made, the pins in the several chimes will bear the same relation to the other pins of the same combination as do the graduations on the corresponding sections (112, or a, bear to one another.

The roll as disclosed herein is divided into five equal parts for the following reason:

On the roll are series of sets of five circumferentially aligned pins. A set of such pins is provided for each hell, or if a given bell is sounded in more than one chime, additional sets of five pins each are provided for each additional chime in which the given bell is embraced. These sets are so spaced that'if the roll is longitudinally actuated, different combinations of these sets of pins may be aligned with various of the levers E. It is necessary to provide these additional sets of pins because the roll D is moved longitudinally of itself to bring various combination of sets of pins into alignment with the levers embraced in various of the chimes. The same chime is sounded repeatedly during one revolution of the drum D as is explained more fully hereafter, and a. number of separate and distinct combinations of pins must be provided for repeatedly sounding the same chime during one revolution of the drum. In order to effect the hereafter described sounding of the chimes in two revolutions of the drum D, it is necessary that the drum be provided with five separate and distinct combinations of pins for sounding any one chime. In order that succeeding soundings of the same chime, by the various combinations of pins, shall be identical, any one pin of any combination must bear the same relation to the other pins'of its respective combination, as do the corresponding pins in the other four combinations bear to their associated pins. This result is accomplished by having the five pins of any one set disposed equidistant about the circumference of-the drum. For this reason, the drum is divided into five equal parts, and each of these five parts corresponds to the five distances between succeeding chimes. The drum and the roll make the same number of revolutions per minute, therefore, if the drum has on its circumference five equidistant marks, and one of these marks registers with a given pointer, such as 7, when a certain bar is sounded by one of the pins, the other equidistant marks on the drum bell of one of the chimes is sounded once, one pin of each series in aligment with the levers E actuating one chime lever. When the second quarter has elapsed the roll is revolved so that each bell of the same chime.

is sounded twice, the next two pins of said series actuating the levers E. This leaves two of the five pins in alignment with the respective levers E to be sounded before the roll has made one complete revolution. When the third quarter has elapsed the roll is revolved so that each bell of the same chime .is sounded three times, the two pins last referred to and the pin that sounded the first quarter being employed. This leaves four pins to be actuated to complete two revolutions of the roll. YVhen the fourth quarter has elapsed, or the clock registers a full hour, each bell of the chime is sounded four times, the roll at the termination thereof having made two complete revolutions in one hour and therefore being in the same relative position at the same quarter'of any hour. From this explanation it is evident that the number of basic divisions upon the drum is dependent upon the type of roll used in a clock, the sounding of the bells and the number of chimes in any one clock, and is a detail that does not limit my invention to any specific number of graduations or sections upon the drum. The device registers the oint relation of the pins or studs on the roll D to one another and to the hammers or levers actuated by such pins.

What I claim is:

1. In a device for regulating the striking mechanism of clocks having a chime, the combination with means adapted to register the periods of time between sounding of the individual bells of the chime, of means adapted to transmit the movement of the chime striking mechanism to such registering means.

2. In a device for regulating the striking mechanism of clocks having a chime, the combination with a revoluble drum adapted to be moved into engagement with the chime striking mechanism, of registering means upon the drum adapted to disclose the rela tive periods of time between the sounding of individual bells of the chime.

3. In a device for regulating the striking mechanism of clocks having a chime, the

IVhen the first quarter of an hourhas elapsed, the roll is revolved so that eaclr combination with a revoluble drum having a graduated face, of an indicator adapted to register with the graduations upon said face, and means to transmit the movement of the striking mechanism to the drum.

4. In a device for regulating the strikingmechanism of clocks having a chime, the combination with means adapted to register the periods of time between sounding of individual bells of the chime, of a train of gears engaging the registering means and adapted to be moved into engagement with the striking mechanism.

5. In a device for regulating the striking mechanism of clocks, having a chime, the combination with a frame, of means to mount the frame upon such clock, a grad uated drum revolubly mounted upon the frame, an indicator finger adapted to register with the graduations upon the drum, and means to transmit the motion of the striking mechanism to the drum.

6. In a device for regulating the striking mechanism of clocks having chime, the combination with a frame, means to te1nporarily attach the frame to a clock, a. revoluble shaft supported by the frame, a graduated drum mounted upon the shaft, a gear mounted upon the shaft adjacent to and secured to the drum, a train of fixed gears revolubly mounted upon the frame, one of said gears engaging the gear upon the shaft, an adjustable gear mounted on the frame and adapted to engage one of the train of gears and to be moved into engagement with the striking mechanism, a cross bar mounted on the frame and extending over the drum, and an adjustable indicator mounted upon the drum and adapted to register with the graduations upon the drum.

7. In a regulating device the combination with means to temporarily attach the devices to clocks having a stud roll adapted to actuate the chime striking hammers, of means adapted to register the joint relation of the studs to one another and to the hammers.

8. In a device to regulate the striking mechanism of clocks having a stud roll adapted to actuate chime striking hammers, the combination with a graduated drum, of an indicator adapted to register with the graduations upon the drum, means to temporarily attach the drum to the clock and means to transmit the movement of the stud roll to the drum.

9. In a device to regulate the striking mechanism of clocks having a stud roll adapted to actuate the hammers of a series of chimes and comprising the combination with a revoluble drum, of a series of graduated sections upon the drum, a basic graduation extending across the series of graduated sections, an indicator hand having a series of indicator fingers, one finger being adapted to register with the graduations upon one graduated section, and means to transmit the movement of the roll to the drum.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this 22nd day of June, 1920.

WALTER EBERHARDT. 

